Published: 7 November, 2013
by PAUL COWLING at WHITE HART LANE

Europa League Group K
Spurs 2 (Lamela 60, Defoe Pen 67)  FC Sheriff Tiraspol 1 (Isa 72)

ERIK Lamela made the front cover of the match programme, and made the difference on the night as Spurs qualified for the last 32 of the Europa League with this narrow 2-1 win over Moldovan champions, Sheriff Tiraspol.

Spurs boss André Villas Boas made nine changes from the side that dragged out a point at Everton the previous Sunday. Etienne Capoue made his first start since the defeat to Arsenal in September, while Younes Kaboul was brought into central defence.

Lamela too, was back in the starting line up and he revelled in his attacking role.

"We had been waiting for him (Lamela) to have a game like this." said Villas-Boas, after the match.

"We saw signs of what he can do for us and hopefully he can now progress."

"He has a few problems settling into life at the club and in London, but he has delivered tonight."

The £25.7m signing opened the scoring on the hour mark (his first for the club), thumping in a first time shot after Christian Eriksen's shot rebounded off Sheriff defender Djibril Paye.

Lamela was Spurs' stand-out performer in a turgid first half in which Spurs struggled to get behind Sheriff's well marshalled defence.

But this was Lamela's stage, and he shone like the star in the second half as Tottenham finally began to put the visitors under pressure.

In the 67th minute, Lamela wriggled into the penalty area drawing a foul from Paye. There was only one outcome.

Up stepped Jermain Defoe to  smack the ball into the top left hand corner of the net.  2-0 and game just about over.

It was time for Tottenham fans in the Park Lane end of the ground, to raise their flag to Defoe's record breaking feat of beating Martin Chivers's 40 year old European club record.

But If Defoe's 23 goal haul broke one Euro record, Spurs failed in their bid to beat another long-standing statistic: On the way to winning the Uefa Cup in 1972, Spurs kept five consecutive clean sheets.

But they couldn't keep a sixth, as Sheriff got what was a consolation goal on 72 minutes.
Brad Friedel – in for the injured Hugo Lloris – could only parry Cadu's shot and the rebound fell to Ismail Isa who made it 2-1.

Sheriff had put up a spirited show and in a way, they deserved their goal. But it was but a consolation, as Spurs comfortably held on to secure the win that sets them up for the knockout stages.

Spurs: Friedel; Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Naughton; Capoue (Paulinho 58), Lamela, Dembelé, Eriksen (Holtby 81), Sigurdsson (Kane 69); Defoe

Attendance: 32,225

SPURS COMMENT

'LLORISGATE'  dominated the 0-0 bore draw away at Everton, but AVB found no place for Frenchman Hugo in the starting line-up or on the bench for the Europa League visit of Sheriff Tiraspol.

Maybe it was the thought of a law enforcer coming to town that made the Tottenham coach take stock of a situation that had come to a 'head'.

Just how seriously does a professional football club take a player's head injury? Clearly not seriously enough.

Like just about everyone, I was amazed that Lloris was allowed to carry on after being kneed in the brain region by a hefty Belgian knee.

Perhaps the Gallic goalie couldn't remember Romelu Lukaku careering into him, which could have accounted for his insistence that he wanted to play on.

This was no brave Bert Trautmann (playing with a broken neck in the 1956 FA Cup Final) moment; this was stupidity by all concerned.

Lloris should have gone off on the golf cart (if Goodison Park had one).

Player safety is paramount. It's a 'no-brainer'.